Tag: Daniel Thomas

How will the Dolphins use Mike Gillislee in 2013?

May. 14 Opinion no comments

The Miami Dolphins are in full offseason mode in mid-May.  The roster is pretty much set, so we know which players will be there when training camp starts in late July.  The Dolphins, for their part, are doing good in the community during their down time.  Today, the entire Dolphins team visited school children and spent the day with them at Dave and Buster’s.  Great work by the team!  While the Dolphins are enjoying their down time, we wanted to take a look at one of the Dolphins rookies, Mike Gillislee.  The Gillislee pick might not have made headlines, but I think he will be used quite a bit in 2013.

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

Gillislee was drafted #164 overall by the Dolphins, in the 5th round of the NFL Draft.  He’s 5’11″, 208 lbs and ran the 40 yard dash in 4.55 seconds.  He’s not blazing fast like Lamar Miller and he didn’t have a ton of production at Florida, but Gillislee will compete for a spot on the Dolphins roster.  He didn’t become the starting running back at Florida until his senior season, when he carried 244 times for 1,152 yards and 10 TDs.  that’s over a 4.7 yard per carry average in the SEC, which isn’t too shabby.

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Musings: Vote for Marino, plus a Mock Draft, inside info on Grimes, & Lamar Miller breakdown

Apr. 02 Miami Musings no comments

The Dolphins are in full poker mode, sending smokescreens and leaking the information they want to leak, all in an attempt to conceal their plans for the upcoming draft.  As such, there isn’t a lot of information coming out of Davie, FL.  So we thought we would take a moment and share some of the interesting things we’ve been reading, from other Dolphins blogs.

Miami Musings

Vote for Marino

Dan Marino may have retired 13 years ago, but he’s still loved by Dolphins fans.  He’s currently fighting for a spot on the cover of Madden this year.  He’s into the 3rd round after knocking off Reggie Wayne and Marshall Faulk.  Now he’s up against Joe Montana, a number 1 seed.  Marino needs your help to advance in the bracket, so please go here and vote!  Voting literally takes less than 10 seconds.  Please show your support for the greatest Miami Dolphin of all time!!!

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Report: Reggie Bush ‘highly unlikely’ to resign with Dolphins

Jan. 28 News and Notes 1 comment

The Miami Dolphins are in full offseason mode, trying to determine which of their own free agents they want to resign to future contracts.  Tough decisions are being discussed regarding Jake Long, Reggie Bush, Sean Smith, Randy Starks, Brian Hartline, and Anthony Fasano.  With roughly $46 million in cap room, the amount the Dolphins will have to spend on other players will largely depend on which (and how many) of these free agents they resign.

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

Right now, we know the Dolphins are involved in complex negotiations with Jake Long.  But, with word coming out that Jake wants $10 mil per season, I think the chances of bit #77 coming back are growing slimmer by the day.  So the Dolphins would likely convert Jonathan Martin to LT to replace Long and address RT in free agency or the draft (at a much lower price than $10 mil per season).

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Who will stay and who will go for the Dolphins?

Jan. 15 Opinion 6 comments

The Miami Dolphins are in the process of evaluating the talent they have on their current roster.  They are trying to map out a plan for this critical offseason that presents them with $40-$50 mil in cap room and 5 draft picks in the first 3 rounds of the draft.  The Dolphins have a lot of big decisions to make this offseason.  The big decisions that will come first will be to determine which of the Dolphins own free agents should be brought back for the 2013 season and beyond.

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

Let’s start by looking at each of the key Dolphins players that will be free agents in early March.  The salaries listed below are courtesy of SportsCity.com and can be found here.

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Dolphins should use Lamar Miller as feature back for rest of season

Dec. 12 Opinion 6 comments

The Miami Dolphins 2012 season is all over but the crying….actually, there’s already been a little crying.  However, the Dolphins still have a lot to sort out in the remaining 3 games of the season.  Which of their own free agents should they resign this offseason?  Should the Dolphins bring back Reggie Bush or can Lamar Miller be an every down back?  Can Jonathan Martin handle left tackle or do the Dolphins need to start talking to Jake Long about a new contract?  Although the Dolphins are still mathematically alive for the playoffs, the rest of the season should be used for Joe Philbin to evaluate what he has on the roster.

Offensive Huddle

Outside of the Jonathan Martin/Jake Long question posted above, I think the next most important decision will come in the Dolphins backfield.  Reggie Bush is set to become a free agent this offseason.  He’ll probably command about $3-4 million per season on the free market (if not more).  However, the Dolphins have drafted running backs in each of the last 2 drafts.  The Dolphins used a 2nd round pick on Daniel Thomas in 2011 and a 4th round pick on Lamar Miller in 2012.  (cont’d on page 2, click below)

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Facts show that Jeff Ireland hasn’t done a good enough job

Dec. 04 Opinion 19 comments

The Miami Dolphins loss on Sunday has been seen by some as a moral victory.  Unfortunately, the only thing left for the Dolphins may be moral victories this season.  The Dolphins battled the Patriots the entire game, but ultimately fell short of winning.  Sadly, now that we know this season will end like the 3 before it, the Dolphins have fallen short of making the playoffs for four years in a row.  Since the start of the 2009 season, the Dolphins are 25-35 and barring a 3-1 finish, they’ll finish below .500 for the 4th season in a row.

There has been A LOT of arguing between Dolphins fans about the job that Jeff Ireland has done in Miami.  But let’s face it, we are ALL Dolphins fans and we are arguing because we love this football team and want them to win Super Bowls, right?  We want them to be competitive on a yearly basis.  So please, read the rest of this post knowing that we are all on the same ‘team’ here and we all want what is best for the franchise we love.

I’m writing this, knowing full well that it won’t make me any friends over at Davie.  I will say that the Dolphins are a first class organization even though their public relations with fans can sometimes leave a bit to be desired.  No one at Dolphins headquarters is trying to lose, they want to win as badly as us.  How do I know that?   Simple: Winning sells tickets.  And right now, the Dolphins are SEVERELY hurting in the ticket sales area.  It is in the organization’s best interest to put a winning product on the field.  It makes the fans happy, which in turn sells more tickets, merchandise, and orange carpets (sorry, couldn’t help myself).

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Pitiful Picks: Can the Dolphins pull of a huge upset?

Dec. 02 Pitiful Picks no comments

The Miami Dolphins face an uphill battle this afternoon against the New England Patriots. The Dolphins will be looking to pull off what would probably be the upset of the season, if they can do it. The Patriots have scored over 100 points through their last 2 games and have shown no signs of slowing down. If the Dolphins want to continue dreaming about the playoffs, they’ll need to find a way to do just that; Slow down the high-powered Patriots.

Like the Dolphins, we’re looking to improve our record as the season draws to a close. After last week’s action, our record is 27-21 on the season. That’s simply not good enough! Today we’re hoping to get back onto a little winning streak as we make a push towards week 17. So here you go, our week 13 installment of the Pitiful Picks:

Chicago Bears -3 over Seattle Seahawks

Last week the Seahawks lost for the 5th time in 6 chances on the road. This week they head to Chicago to take on a Bears team that is in a tight race for the AFC North lead with the Packers. Russell Wilson did a great job last week against the Dolphins defense, but will he be up for the challenge this week? In actuality, while Wilson posted a 125 passer rating against the Dolphins, the Seahawks offense only scored 7 points in the 2nd half. I don’t trust Wilson on the road against the ferocious Bears defense one bit. Bears 24 Seahawks 14

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Tannehill impressive in Dolphins comeback win over Seahawks

Nov. 26 News and Notes 3 comments

The Miami Dolphins have looked terrible the last 2 weeks, most notably on offense.  Unfortunately, the Dolphins offense continued their poor play on through the first half of the game on Sunday.  The Dolphins struggled to score only 7 points through 3 quarters against the stingy Seahawks defense in large part because they were pinned deep in their own territory for most of the game.

The Dolphins running game showed some signs of life before the 4th quarter, but Ryan Tannehill was running for his life and failed to make big plays downfield.  I was screaming at my TV for most of the 1st half, imploring Mike Sherman to run the football and stick with it.  On one drive in particular, in the first half, the Dolphins rushed on 1st down for 11 yards, then attempted 3 straight passes.  On those passing plays the Dolphins gave up a sack, an incompletion, and a short completion, which failed to pick up the first down.  At that point I wrote ‘RUN THE DAMN FOOTBALL!!’.  Maybe Mike Sherman was reading my twitter feed?  After that, the Dolphins ran the ball and ran the ball effectively and eventually wore out the Seahawks defense in the 4th quarter.

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Pitiful Picks: Can the Dolphins turn it around?

Nov. 25 Pitiful Picks no comments

The Miami Dolphins enter Sunday’s matchup against the Seahawks with one thing on their mind….winning.  After losing 3 straight games in ugly fashion, the Dolphins hope to get back on the winning track.  The Dolphins were once talking about the playoffs, but right now, they must focus on winning one game and inching back towards the .500 mark.

Just like the Dolphins, we need to turn things around after a 1-1 (and a push) on Thanksgiving.  Our Pitiful Picks record for the season is now 25-19, which simply isn’t good enough!  So here we go, with this week’s edition of the Pitiful Picks:

Green Bay Packers +3 over New York Giants

The Packers are rolling and the Giants are reeling, having lost their last 2 games.  However, for the last 3 seasons, the Giants have been 6-4 after 10 games, so this is nothing new to them.  The Giants have a brutal second half of their schedule and will probably get pushed by the Redskins or Cowboys for the division, especially if they lose this game.  They draw a tough opponent, as they welcome in Aaron Rodgers and the Packers tonight.  The Giants secondary is pretty bad, but so is the Packers.  I expect this game to be a shootout, even though Eli Manning has struggled of late.  Eli usually plays his best when his team’s back is against the wall.  Having said that, I just don’t think the Giants will be able to slow down the streaking Packers.  Packers 34 Giants 31

Cleveland Browns +2 over Pittsburgh Steelers

Here’s your upset special.  The Steelers have Charlie Batch at quarterback this week and their offensive line is atrocious.  Meanwhile, the Browns defensive front abused the Cowboys last week and hit Tony Romo on seemingly every play.  I think the Browns, at home will pull off the upset over the injury rattle Steelers, relying heavily on their running game and Trent Richardson.  Browns 19 Steelers 17  (cont’d on page 2, click below)

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What’s wrong with the Miami Dolphins?

Nov. 19 Opinion no comments

The Miami Dolphins are currently riding a 3 game losing streak that has made their hopes of the playoffs as likely as me finally getting that date with Mila Kunis.  It’s not impossible, but it’s not going to happy for our Dolphins.  The Dolphins season got off to a rocky 1-3 start and then the team rebounded to win 3 straight games to improve to 4-3.  Unfortunately, they couldn’t sustain that solid play, even against teams that were beatable.  The Dolphins 3 game losing streak has come against the Colts (6-4), Titans (4-6), and Bills (4-6).  Those are games that playoff teams win, but the Dolphins didn’t.

So the question that everyone is asking is: What is wrong with the Miami Dolphins?  How could a team that looked so good against the Bengals, Raiders, Jets, and Rams, look so bad in their last 3 games?  We’ll look at a few of the factors that have lead the Dolphins to their 4-6 record, which leaves them 2 games back in the Wild Card race with a tough schedule coming up.

Not winning the line of scrimmage:  Earlier this season, the Dolphins had the best run stuffing defense in the league.  Now, they are giving up chunks of yardage to opposing running backs.  The Dolphins had their streak of 20+ games without allowing a 100 yard rusher, snapped against the Titans.  The Dolphins are not winning the line of scrimmage on defense.

The offensive line isn’t doing any better.  The Dolphins are not creating holes for their running backs, which has lead to Reggie Bush averaging just 3.1 yards per carry in his last 5 games.  This, after Bush was averaging 5.5 yards per game in the first 5 games of the season.  If you’ve watched the games, you also know that the offensive line isn’t doing Ryan Tannehill any favors either.  Tannehill is getting hit way too much and is going to get hurt if it keeps up.  Losing at the line of scrimmage has cost the Dolphins yards, points, and games.  It’s hard to pinpoint a reason for the dismal line play on both sides, because the Dolphins really haven’t had many injuries at all on either side of the  line.  (cont’d on page 2, click below)

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